Irish History - June 17 - 23

Here is your Irish history lesson for this week.

June 17
1798 - Rebels capture Tinahely, Co. Wicklow and burn the town
1800 - Birth of William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse; astronomer and telescope constructor, in York
1845 - Author and poet, Emily Lawless, is born in Lyons Castle, Co. Kildare
1867 - Birth of John Gregg, publisher and inventor of the Gregg shorthand system, in Rockcorry, Co. Monaghan
1903 - An elephant named Sita kills her keeper tending her sore foot in Dublin Zoo. She was later put down by members of the Royal Irish Constabulary
1959 - Eamon de Valera becomes President of Ireland.

June 18
1329 - The Bishop of Ossory is charged with fomenting feuds among the magnates; he flees to England and then, when summoned before the king, he flees to Rome. The king (Edward III, aged seventeen) warns the pope against him.
1769 - Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry, politician and administrator, is born in Dublin
1798 - In Leinster, the Rebels are defeated at Ovidstown, near Kilcock; in Wexford, Rebels move back to Kilcavan hill. Government offensive begins; Rebels at Kilcavan are in a strong position. Government advance is stalled; Rebels withdraw from Kilcavan. Moore and Johnston move out of New Ross. General Needham moves out of Arklow; Loftus moves out of Carnew. By evening, Moore is in Foulkesmill, Needham is in Gorey and Loftus is in Craanford. Rebels southern division retreats to Wexford. Rebels northern division camps in Camolin
1815 - Battle of Waterloo, when British forces, under the command of the Duke of Wellington, a Dubliner, defeat Napoleon’s forces. The Iron Duke wasn’t the only Irish presence on the day — Napoleon’s horse Marengo was reared in Co. Wexford, and the Duke of Wellington’s mount was from Co. Cork
1831 - In the 'tithe war', yeomen kill up to 14 people at Newtownbarry, Co. Wexford
1859 - Birth of artist, Walter Osborne in Dublin. His superb images of young girls at play are still cherished by the National Gallery of Ireland: The Dolls School, The House Builders, and other examples of his work are also housed there. From the evidence of the few canvases from his last years, Osborne may be the only Irish artist who could justifiably be called 'an Irish Impressionist'
1864 - Death of William Smith O’Brien, leading member of the literary-political Young Ireland movement
1901 - Playwright, Denis Johnston is born in Dublin. His plays include The Old Lady Says 'No'; The Moon in the Yellow River; The Bride for the Unicorn and Strange Occurrence on Ireland's Eye. He also published a biography, In Search of Swift, and two autobiographical volumes, Nine Rivers from Jordan and The Brazen Horn
1936 - Fianna Fáil maintains links with the IRA until 1934 and then, on this date, declares them to be an illegal organisation
1945 - Sean T. O’Kelly becomes the first elected President of Ireland
1946 - Ray Treacy, former Irish International, is born
1970 - Ian Paisley is elected to Westminster in by-elections
1971 - Birth of Jason McAteer, International midfielder
1972 - Twelve of Ireland's most prominent businessmen are killed in a BA crash at Staines
1972 - Myles Dillon, Irish scholar of Celtic studies, dies.

June 19
1647 - James, Duke of Ormond, agrees to surrender Dublin to English Parliament
1820 - The Dublin Society for Improving Husbandry, which was originally founded on June 25 in 1731, becomes the Royal Dublin Society on this date
1841 - Birth in Roscommon of Sir George Arthur French (a relation of Percy French, the songwriter) who organised the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
1936 - Birth in Dingle, Co. Kerry of Sister Stanislaus Kennedy, née Treasa Kennedy; campaigner against poverty and homelessness
1936 - Mary Holland, noted journalist of the 1970s and 1980s in Northern Ireland and Scoop of the year award winner in 1994 (British Press Awards), is born in London
1972 - In 1971, a contract is signed with Verlome Cork Dockyard (VCD) to build an offshore patrol vessel for the Naval Service. LE Déirdre is launched on the 21st January 1972, and commissioned by LT Cdr Brett on 19th June 1972. The building of L.E. Déirdre marks a milestone in the development of the N.S., being the first ship purpose-built in Ireland to patrol in Irish waters.

June 20
1210 - King John lands at Waterford. He campaigns in Leinster - many of the de Lacys' followers go over to his side; he then captures Carrickfergus, where the de Lacys have made a stand, after a short siege. On 28 July, he captures William de Braose and confiscates his lands
1715 - There is a general election. The first session of the Irish parliament of George I commences on 12 November, and will continue till 20 June 1716. There will be six sessions of this parliament
1764 - Birth of Theobald Wolfe Tone, for more on Wolfe Tone click The Wild Geese
1798 - In Wexford, the Rebels retreat to Vinegar Hill. General's Loftus, Needham and Johnston close in on Vinegar Hill. General Moore defeats Rebels at Goffs Bridge
1810 - Parliament passes Unlawful Acts Bill, extending powers against secret societies
1849 - James Clarence Mangan, poet, dies
1867 - Clan Na Gael, Irish revolutionary organization and the counterpart of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, is formed by John Devoy, Daniel Cohalan and Joseph McGarrity in the USA. The objectives of the organization are to secure an independent Ireland
1891 - Birth of John Aloysius Costello, Ireland’s third Taoiseach
1955 - Aonghus McAnally, RTÉ presenter and broadcaster, is born
1992 - U2 takes part in a Greenpeace protest at the Sellafield nuclear power plant in northwest England. Wearing radiation suits, the band travels in rubber dingys with Irish dirt allegedly contaminated by the power plant, depositing the drums back on Sellafield grounds.
Today is midsummer's eve; at one time, young women in Ireland gathered yarrow with the rhyme:
Good morrow, good yarrow, good morrow to thee
Send me this night my true love to see
The clothes he'll wear, the color of his hair
And if he to me, we will marry.
The yarrow was placed under the pillow to induce dreams of the future beloved.

June 21
Today is the summer solstice. At around 3.00 am Irish time the sun reaches the most northerly point of its oscillation and the longest day in Ireland results — just over 17 hours. The sun rises over Dublin at 4.45am, and sets at 9.57 pm
1650 - Cromwell's New Model Army is victorious at Scarrifhollis, Co. Donegal
1691 - Godert de Ginkel, the commanding general of the William of Orange army, begins a ten-day siege of Athlone
1782 - The Declaratory Act, which had given Britain the right to legislate for Ireland and had denied the appellate jurisdiction of the Irish House of Lords, is repealed
1798 - The Rebels are defeated at Vinegar Hill; however, two Rebel columns escape; the Southern column camps at Sleedagh Demense; the Northern column camps at Peppards Castle. Government forces re-take Wexford town
1826 - Frederick Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava, diplomat and holder of estates at Clandeboye, Co. Down, is born in Florence
1854 - Charles Davis Lucas from Drumagole, Co Armagh, age 20 and a mate in the Royal Navy, hurls a Russian shell (its fuse still burning) from the deck of his ship during the Crimean War. For this action, he will become the first recipient of the Victoria Cross in 1857. Lucas later achieved the rank of rear admiral
1877 - On a day that will long be remembered as Black Thursday, four members of the Molly Maguires - Alexander Campbell, John Donohue, Michael Doyle and Edward Kelly, shackled with chains, walk to the gallows specially constructed to accommodate four people; their lives are ended at the same split second
1897 - James Connolly is arrested during a demonstration commemorating 1798; Maud Gonne pays the fine for his release
1995 - A mass rally of the entire Irish Press Newspaper workforce and their families and friends takes place through the centre of Dublin in a demonstration of unified protest against the planned closure of the newspaper group. The march, organised by the Dublin Printing Group of Unions, draws more than 1,000 Irish Press workers and their supporters. Led by a samba band, they march through the streets of Dublin, setting off from Parnell Square toward a rally outside the Dail
1997 - At the county prison, which was closed as a jail in 1995 and reopened as The Old Jail Museum, the four Molly Maguires executed on this date in 1877, were remembered in a Memorial Mass attended by 100 of their descendants and members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians.

June 22
1770 - James Smyth, MP for Dundalk, is killed in a riding accident
1798 - Rebel southern column marches through Sculloge Gap, into Co. Carlow. Rebel northern column marches to camp at Croghan
1798 - Execution of John Kelly, also known as 'Kelly of Killane'
1866 - Archbishop Cullen becomes the first Irishman elevated to Cardinal
1921 - First Ulster parliament, led by Sir James Craig, is formally opened by King George V, who appeals for peace
1922 - Longford-born Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson is shot and killed by the IRA on the steps of his home in London (link to Wild Geese)
1930 - Sir Hugh Annesley - RUC Chief Constable - is born in Dublin
1932 - Eucharistic Congress in Dublin begins. The high point is when over a million people gather for Mass in Phoenix Park
1940 - The last tram to Donnybrook, Dublin leaves
1959 - Birth of Michael Kinane - jockey - in Killenaule, Co. Tipperary
1973 - Hilton Edwards and Dr. Micheál Mac Liammóir are given the Freedom of the city of Dublin
1997 - Orange parades pass off quietly amid growing fears of a further stand-off at Drumcree
1998 - An urgent appeal is made to Ireland's drivers to slow down after eight young people lose their lives in a black weekend on the country's roads
2002 - U2's Edge marries longtime girlfriend Morleigh Steinberg in a Jewish ceremony at the Garden of Eze in the south of France. Bono is the best man.

June 23
1704 - The Registration Act comes into force requiring all Catholic priests in Ireland to register in court, to furnish two £50 bonds for good behaviour, and not to leave the county in which they are registered
1777 - William Brown, founder of the Argentine navy, is born in Foxford, Co. Mayo
1798 - Rebel southern column captures Goresbridge, Co. Kilkenny and camps at Bunreagh; Rebel northern column moves into Wicklow Mountains and camps at Ballymanus
1802 - Daniel O'Connell secretly marries his cousin, Mary O'Connell
1825 - Annie French Hector, novelist who wrote under the pseudonym Mrs. Alexander, is born in Dublin. Highly successful novelist with 40 books including the Wooing of O’t (1873), and Blind Fate (1891); A Choice of Evils (1895), and Kitty Costello, semi-autobiographical (1902)
1838 - Sir James Gildea, philanthropist and co-founder of St. John Ambulance Association, is born in Kilmaine, Co. Mayo
1939 - Dáil Éireann introduces internment
1945 - Sean O'Ceallaigh is inaugurated as President of Ireland
1959 - Seán Lemass becomes Taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fáil
1985 - An Air India Boeing 747 from Toronto crashes off the Irish coast, killing all 329 people aboard in the world's worst commercial air disaster at sea
1986 - Northern Ireland Assembly is dissolved. Police baton-charge 200 loyalist protesters outside Stormont
1998 - President Mary McAleese meets President Bill Clinton for the first time in the Oval Office; he promises that the US will remain engaged in the North peace process
Today is the eve of St. John's Feastday; it is also Mid Summer's Eve - an ancient solar feast celebrated with bonfires throughout the Celtic lands.

Sources: Irish Culture and Customs, The Celtic League, Irish Abroad, The Wild Geese